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DEVELOPING STORY: Powerful Earthquake in Turkey!

Scattered damage in the country

“People need help now”

500 – 1000 feared dead!

Many people have been reported to have died in a major earthquake in eastern province of Van Province. The earthquake was of magnitude of 7.2 and had a depth of 12.4 miles, which is relatively shallow and could potentially cause more damage. Two aftershocks of 5.6 magnitude has also hit the same area within one hour. The epicenter was in the village of Tabanli in the eastern province of Van, bordering Iran, but the quake was also felt in the province’s center as well as the neighboring provinces of Bitlis, Mus, Batman, Diyarbakir and Hakkari.

Talking to NTV, Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis, had this to say;

“There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction, We need urgent aid. We need medics.”

Scattered damage has occurred in eastern Turkey with two collapse of building being confirmed. About 50 people are injured, while unconfirmed reports are saying that about 500 – 1000 people have lost their lives. Some 25 apartment buildings and a student dormitory collapsed in the town of Ercis. The Van province is near the Iranian country and it is quite vulnerable to earthquakes. As a matter of face Turkey, lying atop the North Anatolian fault, has been plagued by earthquakes frequently.

EARTHQUAKES IN TURKEY THAT CAUSED 10,000 OR MORE DEATHS

Year

Lat

Lon

Mag

Deaths

General area

342

36.2

36.1

40,000

Antakya (Antioch)

565

36.2

36.1

30,000

Antakya

688

38.4

27.2

7.0

20,000

Izmir

847

36.2

36.1

–

20,000

Antakya

1268

39.8

40.4

–

15,000

Erzincan-Erzurum

1268

37.5

35.5

–

60,000

NE of Adana

1458

39.9

40.4

–

30,000

Erzincan-Erzurum

1509 – Sep 14

40.7

29.3

7.0

13,000

Istanbul

1653 – Feb 23

38.2

28.2

7.5

2,500-15,000

East of Izmir

1688 – Jul 12

38.4

26.9

7.5

15,000-20,000

Izmir

1859 – Jun 02

39.9

41.3

6.4

15,000

Erzurum

1883 – Oct 15

38.3

26.2

7.0

15,000

West of Izmir

1939 – Dec 26

39.5

38.5

7.9

30,000

Erzincan

1999 – Aug 17

40.7

30.0

7.4

17,480

Izmit-Golcuk

On March, 2010, an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 and depth of 5.0 kilometres killed some 42 people in the Elazig province of Turkey, just south-west of the Van province. Shoddy construction is usually blamed for many deaths.